Farming Friends

I have collected together some of the red sights to be found on and around our farm.

A Robin Red Breast

The Red Massey Ferguson

Hatty The Hen’s Red Wattles And Comb

A Red Rose

Which was your favourite red object found on my farm?

If you would like to join Photo Hunters then click on the image below for more information.

If you are breeding quail and incubating their eggs it is important to keep a record of hatchability and to calculate the percentage hatchability because this will help in evaluating incubation and hatch efficiency.

Calculating Hatchability

The percentage of hatchability is the percentage of eggs which actually hatch out as live young.

% hatchability = number of eggs hatched out/number of fertile eggs.

Quail Hatchability November 2007

25 quail eggs hatched out divided by 27 fertile quail eggs = 93% hatchability.

This is a great hatchability rate for the first time we have incubated quail eggs.

Click on the image below to visit Amazon.co.uk to find out more about this book or visit one of the Farming Friends Bookshops.

42 coturnix japanese quail eggs have been in the incubator for 17 days.
19 quail chicks hatched out unaided.
6 quail chicks hatched out with assistance.
2 eggs had partially formed chicks inside.
15 eggs were not fertile.
Currently only 2 of the quail chicks have died.

Quail Egg Hatch Rate - 25 quail eggs hatched out divided by 42 quail eggs in the incubator = 59% hatch rate.

Quail Hatchability - 25 quail eggs hatched out divided by 27 fertile quail eggs = 93% hatchability. This is a great hatchability rate for the first time we have incubated quail eggs.

Quail Egg Fertility - 27 fertile quail eggs divided by 42 quail eggs in the incubator = 64% fertility. This is a reasonable fertility rate for this time of the year as the male quail’s fertility is effected by cold temperatures, thus breeding quail in November when the weather is colder can effect the fertility rate of the eggs. 15 quail eggs were infertile and this makes an infertility rate of 36%.

Click on the image below to visit Amazon.co.uk to find out more about this book or visit one of the Farming Friends Bookshops.

This evening we transferred 16 quail chicks to the brooder and as promised here are a couple of photos of the quail chicks.

A couple more eggs have pipped in the incubator so there may be more quail chicks to come. I’ll let you know what the final chick count is!

Click on the image below to visit Amazon.co.uk to find out more about this book or visit one of the Farming Friends Bookshops.

Entries for the Farming Friends ‘foto’ of the month competition just keep coming. This entry was sent in by Marian from Shropshire, so thanks Marian.

Marian took this photograph of the laughing horse back in July at Gigrin Farm, Wales. She said in her email that, ”This horse made me laugh so much I could hardly keep the camera still to take the picture. It still brings a smile to my face every time I look at it, Hope it has the same effect on your viewers.”

I’m sure it will Marian - what a fabulous photograph. A great photo opportunity taken! 

If you like taking photographs then why not enter our Farming Friends ‘Foto’ Of The Month Competition. (more…)

An entry for the photograph of the month competition has been waiting in my email tray for me to add to this site for a few days now and what a delightful photograph it is too. The photograph was sent in by Diane, so thank you very much.

This photograph was taken by Diane from Vancouver Island in Canada and you can see Ella feeding the goat. What a lucky goat to have such a lovely feeder. The goat is called Hey babe.

If you like taking photographs then why not enter our Farming Friends ‘Foto’ Of The Month Competition.

The photographs need to have a farming theme and can include the farming landscape, farm animals, farm machinery, farming life or nature and wildlife on and around a farm.

Send your photographs by email keeping the photograph attachment to a size of about 600 x 400 pixels. Please supply some details about the photograph - the name of the person who took the photograph, when and where it was taken and what is happening in the photograph. The winning ‘Foto’ will be posted at the beginning of the following month, so you have up to the end of the month to enter. Go check out the other entries now and also don’t forget the photograph caption competition which can be found on the Photograph Competitions page aswell.

In the early hours of the morning (2.45am to be precise!) I was awoken to the sound of barking. I jumped out of bed and peered through the curtains to ascertain what was making the noise. I couldn’t see anything. Steve and I decided to get up and check that everything was ok with the guinea fowl, cattle and pigs. Our first stop was the guinea fowl.

When we approached the guinea fowl area a border collie dog ran off. With torch in hand we assessed the situation, hoping that none of the guinea fowl had fallen prey to the dog’s appetite. The torch light revealed the ground covered in guinea fowl feathers and on close inspection we found a dead guinea fowl. The dog had managed to dig it’s way under the hut and had obviously pulled the guinea fowl out. The other five terrified guinea fowl were foolishly still sat near the hole. It’s beyond me why they just didn’t move to the other end of the run, but the mind of a bird is still a mystery to me!

As we checked the other huts and tried to do a head count, I noticed that the A frame which earlier had housed 6 guineas now only seemed to have three. Steve suggested that they must be in the upstairs compartment, yet when I flashed the torch into the opening, no guinea fowl birds were present. Then we saw the opening in the wire and realised that the dog must have taken the three guinea fowl.

Our investigation revealed that three guinea fowl were missing and one was dead. We couldn’t find bodies for the others but daylight would probably reveal the deadly horrors of the night’s attack.

We bricked up the hole near the side of the pen and covered the a frame hole. A quick check of the cattle and pigs found no disturbances caused in either camp much to our relief. We returned to the house to sleep, although mine was a restless sleep as I listened out for the warning cries from my guinea birds or the bark of a menacing dog.

Day break came and I hurried out to check the full extent of the damage. I was pleased to discover that three guinea fowl had managed to escape and were roosting in the hedgerow just out of “paws”, I mean harms way! What a relief, still only one casualty, although that was one casualty too many. 

We have yet to discover whose dog it is. I just hope that it doesn’t return, although I am moving all my guinea fowl into huts on concrete bases so that predators and pests cannot dig their way under the sides of the huts.